E 98 
.P8W8 



PREHISTORIC POTTERY — MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI 
VALLEY. 



BY JAMES DAVIE BUTLER, LL. D. 

[Address delivered at the Fortv-First Annual Meeting of the State Historical Society of 
Wisconsin, December 14, 1893.] 

The State Historical Society of Wisconsin has just 
added to its museum two hundred and fifty-four specimens 
of prehistoric pottery. Its purchase of the Perkins col- 
lection of copper implements, in 1875, rendered the Societj 7 
easily first in that department of antiques. Nor was it far 
behind in the line of Indian curiosities, gathered by Gov- 
ernor Doty, and in relics of the stone age. The treasures 
of the ceramic art j ust now acquired form a new departure, 
and round up the circle of its exhibits. They are also 
more suited to spectacular display than any species of 
aboriginal remains which it has hitherto shown. 

The new treasure- trove consists of two hundred and 
fifty-four pieces. They were all discovered in southeast- 
ern Missouri or northeastern Arkansas, in the Missouri 
counties of Scott, Mississippi, and New Madrid, and in 
Cross and Poinsett counties in Arkansas. All were found 
in graves of a depth of from two to five feet. They had 
usually been placed one each side of a skull. In trans- 
atlantic cemeteries similar vessels, when buried with the 
dead, were often purposely broken, either as a token of 
grief or to make them valueless in the eyes of grave- 
robbers. But these Mississippi memorials were laid in the 
dust unbroken, and probably contained food or drink. In- 
deed, when exhumed, so many of them were still whole, 
that only about ten per cent of the number needed to have 
their fragments glued together. 



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WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 



The material is clay of various colors, but usually 
"blackish. It is tempered with bits of shell, which often 
give it a pepper-and-salt appearance, the pepper predomi- 
nating. All the articles are hand-made — showing no trace 
of any wheel manufacture, but they are moulded in forms 
symmetrical and sometimes of classic elegance. None of 
this handiwork indicates acquaintance with the art of glaz- 
ing — though some articles were rubbed smooth and red- 
dened with ochre, or veneered with a different variety of 
clay. Not a few, in the shape of gourds or squashes, would 
seem to have been modeled and shaped on these natural 
moulds. Others show the forms of mud turtles, fishes, and 
various animals. A few imitate the human figure. One 
iemale, kneeling low, appears to be in an attitude and. with 
a look of humble but earnest supplication. 

The variety in form, size, and fashion is very considerable. 
There are shallow or wide-mouthed vessels which we term 
pans, bowls, basins, porringers, and cups, according to size 
and shape. One, seemingly copied from a shell, has a nose 
like a butter-boat. Where the mouths are somewhat nar- 
rower, we may call them pots, some of which would hold a 
pailful. Some pots have projections on their rims, or a sort 
of ears, through which thongs would slip to suspend them 
over a fire or elsewhere. Others run up in the style of long- 
necked birds, which serve as handles. The articles which 
are most narrow-mouthed, it is natural to call bottles. Of 
these some are as big-bellied as demijohns, while others 
are so slender that their bodies have only two or three times 
the diameter of their necks. At the base the bottles are 
either flattened, or they stand on three legs. When a neck 
supports the head of an animal, the animal's mouth some- 
times forms the bottle mouth, but at other times that ori- 
fice is in the back of the animal's head. The ears of the 
human heads were pierced as if for ear-rings. 

It will be observed that many styles of archaic pottery 
have no representatives in the collection we have now ac- 
quired. The coil pattern, for instance, so common further 
south and east, has here no existence. In this variety, the 



PREHISTORIC POTTERY. 



3 



clay long drawn out into a rope and rolled round, was then 
bent into circular layers, so as to form a base, then swelling 
sides, and then often the contracted neck of a jar or bottle. 

A large number of our acquisitions bear some sort of or- 
nament, as swelling bosses; or, on the other hand, sunken 
dimples, a sort of repousse work produced by the artist's 
finger pressing the soft material from without or from 
within. Other styles of decoration are bits of clay stuck 
on outside here and there, like spit-balls. Sometimes rims 
are indented so as to resemble twisted cords or the links 
of a chain. At other times, there are lines straight or 
curved, or rising like the rafters of a house. But a ma- 
jority of the specimens are totally unornamented. These 
relics devoid of ornament, one is at first inclined to ascribe 
to the most archaic era of the art. It is not, however, to 
be forgotten that bones of the mastodon — an animal now 
extinct — have been found carved with representations of 
hunting that animal, a find which argues that no art is 
more ancient than the taste for ornament. 

What was the beginning of the potter's art? is a natural 
question. Herodotus tells a story concerning a Scythian 
custom, which may throw light on the invention of pottery. 
That people having killed an ox, would use his stomach as a 
caldron for boiling his flesh. Hung beneath a tripod and 
high over a fire, such a kettle of green tripe would stand 
much heat while the flesh was boiling. Now and then,, 
however, it must burn through. What more natural than 
to stop leaks with the clay on which it may be the fire had 
itself been kindled? It is the first step that costs. After 
one clod had been stuck on, the whole stomach would be 
speedily covered with such fire-fenders, and at the next 
step would be discarded altogether when the clay pot was 
once well-baked, or rather would perish in the baking. 
Behold the possible genesis of prehistoric pottery. 

American archaeologists hold that our pottery origin- 
ated, relatively speaking, earlier than that of Egypt. In 
saying "relatively speaking," they have reference to the 
fact that no Egyptian pottery is older than alphabetic 



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WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 



writing in the land of the Nile, while all our relics of that 
sort were fashioned among peoples who had not yet in- 
vented any sort of A. B. C. 's. Our handiwork seems then 
to run back to an earlier stage of development than the 
earliest Egyptian survivals. 

The lessons we shall learn from our new discoveries of 
primeval art, it is impossible to foresee. Varieties in the 
fashion of vessels may demonstrate the lines of demarca- 
tion between tribe and tribe — each fish, bird, or animal, 
may give us a clue to the emblem or totem distinguishing 
one clan from another. Ornamental lines which we at first 
ascribe to capricious fancy may at length turn out to be 
significant, each one. of some real fact. 

As a possible aid to future interpretations of what is as yet 
hieroglyphical, we have procured from William J. Seever, 
of St. Louis, from whom our purchase was made, both a gen- 
eral description of the St. Francis valley, the head-centre 
of mound- builder burials, and a list of all the several 
localities there in w T hich our relics were from first to 
last gathered up. This article, appended to the present 
paper, has appeared indispensable for the profitable study 
of the collection now 7 garnered in our museum. It will 
also be invaluable as a guide in making and appreciating 
further researches. 

My own hope is sanguine, that w T ithin a decade our 
museum will be enriched — thanks to our collections from 
states south and west — with a prehistoric treasure-trove 
of "Wisconsin pottery. No specimen of that sort has in- 
deed hitherto come into our possession, But we know 
that some of them exist, indeed we have seen and handled 
them. Among the fifty thousand visitors who annually w T alk 
through our show-room we trust that some, now unknown 
to us, will prove to be owners of these rarities, and will 
be disposed to place them where they will do most good. 
In juxtaposition with types from a distance — each class 
lending and borrowing light by mutual reflection — they 
will aid, more than can be foreseen, comparative research 
''in the dark backward and abysm of time." 



PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN ST. FRANCIS VALLEY. 5 



PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN THE ST. FRANCIS VALLEY. 



BY WILLIAM J. SEEVER. 

[Paper submitted at the Forty First Annual Meeting of the State Historical Society of 
Wisconsin, December 14, 1893.1 

From the city of Cape Girardeau on the Mississippi 
river, a well denned line of bluffs extends in a general 
southwesterly direction across the corner of the state of 
Missouri, and on into Arkansas. This line of bluffs forms 
the boundary between the high and low lands of Missouri 
and Arkansas. An offshoot called Crawley's ridge sets out 
in Stoddard county, Mo., passing through the Missouri 
counties of Stoddard and Butler, and continuing through 
Arkansas into Clay, Green, Craighead, Poinsett, Cross, 
St. Francis, Lee, and Phillip counties, terminating near 
the city of Helena, just below the mouth of St. Fran- 
cis river. This ridge forms the watershed of the St. Fran- 
cis and White rivers, and is the dividing line between the 
valleys of these two streams. The region to the east and 
north of Crawley's ridge is termed the Swamp ridge of 
Missouri and Arkansas. It attains in places a width of 
forty miles, and a length north and south of about two 
hundred and fifty miles. The general surface is but little 
above the mean stage of water in the Mississippi river, 
and is yearly subject to overflow. 

It is in this valley, principally along the banks of the 
Mississippi, St. Francis, and Little rivers — the two latter 
of which extend through it from north to south — that the 
most extensive remains of the mound builders are found. 
On the banks of the St. Francis and its tributaries, at a 
distance of every few miles, are found large groups of 
mounds which were once the seats of an extensive popu- 
lation. Three, four, and often a dozen or more mounds 



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WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 



are found grouped together, covering an area of from 
one to over twenty acres. 

These mounds vary in height from a foot or two above 
the general surface to twenty-five and thirty feet, and in 
diameter from a few yards to several hundred feet. They 
are usually circular in outline, with rounded sides and 
tops. Occasionally the larger ones have flat tops ; terraced 
or truncated mounds are rarely met with in this region. 
Off from the main mounds, at distances varying from an 
eighth of a mile to three miles, single mounds are met 
with — probably the outposts of the central station. 

Whether these earthworks were built for village sites, 
for ceremonies, or for places of sepulture is still unde- 
termined. Certain it is that for a long period of time 
they were used as dwelling sites by our aborigines. This 
fact is abundantly proven by the charcoal beds where 
these people built their fires, by the remains of the ani- 
mals, birds and fish which were used as food, and by 
broken utensils and implements used in their daily life, 
all of which articles are found scattered over the surface 
of these earthworks or slightly below their general sur- 
face. 

Many of these mounds were undoubtedly built solely for 
use as cemeteries, and from these are exhumed vessels of 
pottery, together with human remains. A large number 
of these ceramic relics were collected by me, and are now 
to be seen in the museum of the State Historical Society 
of Wisconsin at Madison. 

It is known to have been the custom of all peoples, at 
times, to deposit with their dead, articles of use and value. 
It is to this custom among the mound builders that we 
owe the preservation of so many specimens of their 
pottery. These antiques were taken principally from 
burial mounds — occasionally from isolated graves on some 
prominent point of land. Usually two, rarely three or 
four, vessels were placed with each body, near the head or 
shoulders — for the most part a bottle-shaped vessel, or a 
pot or bowl containing drink and food. 



PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN ST. FRANCIS VALLEY. J 

The material used in making this pottery was usually a 
fine-grained clay, tempered with mussel shells, pulverized 
or ground, both of which ingredients were always at hand 
in the streams skirting the dwelling sites of the potters. 

The color of these vessels presents two varieties: a dark 
and a light hue, ranging 1'rom a rich black to brown and 
gray. The finish is rude, they being usually smoothed by 
hand, or with some implement similar to a trowel, the 
marks of which can plainly be seen on many specimens. 

The forms are many and varied. The mound-builder potter 
attempted to imitate in a general way the various forms 
of animal and vegetable life, and also the human , figure. 
Vessels moulded to represent the human form are met 
with, with the legs doubled up under the body, and often 
the arms folded across the breast; in others, the human 
head has been imitated, to finish the neck of a bottle 
or urn; again, a human or animal head is sometimes made 
to serve as a handle for a bowl or dish. Fish and animal- 
shaped vessels are uncommon; by far the greater number 
are plain, with globular bodies, together with long or short 
necks; there are many bowl or dish- shaped forms, plain or 
embellished, with handles or ears. Others are curiously 
ornamented by designs or marks done with some sharp in- 
strument, or with the fingers and thumb-nail. 

Nothing can be said with certainty concerning the age 
of these vessels. When the white man came, with his metal 
utensils and glass beads, he set up the dividing line 
between historic and prehistoric times. A large number of 
graves were opened to obtain the several collections of 
pottery in the St. Francis valley, but in no single instance 
among the graves containing this primitive ware was found 
any article of European manufacture. No doubt the manu- 
facture of this ware began many centuries ago, and was 
carried on to a limited extent until recent times. Early 
European writers mention witnessing its practice among 
the southern and southeastern tribes. 1 

1 See especially Bartram's Travels Through North and South Carolina, 
etc. (Philadelphia and London, 1791, 1792.) — R. G. T. 



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WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 



LOCALITY LIST OF THE SEEVER POTTERY COLLECTION, IIST 
THE WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S MUSEUM. 

Specimens numbered 1 to 28 inclusive — Taken in 1880 from mounds in 
Northcot's swamp, 6 miles west of Charleston, Mississippi Co., Mo ,. 
T. 26 N., R. 15 E. One mile N. of Bertrand, a station on the Cairo branch 
of the St. L., I. M. & S. Ry. 

Nos. 29 to 80 inclusive. — Found in 1890, in Stanley mounds, 40 miles 
W. of Memphis, Tenn., in Cross Co., Ark.,T. 8 N., R. 5 E. A very large 
group of mounds, covering 20 to 25 acres. 

No. 81 — Taken in 1892 from Miller mounds, Poinsett Co., Ark., in S. 10,. 
T. 10 N., R. 5 E. A large group in which several mounds are 20 to 35 
feet high. They are 4 miles S. of Edwards station, on K. C. & Gulf Ry. 

Nos. 82 to 112 inclusive — Taken in 1890 from Stanley mounds, Cross 
Co., Ark., T. 8 N., R. 5 E. 

Nos. 113 to 142 inclusive — Taken in 1890 from the Jones mounds,. 
Cross Co., Ark., T. 9 N., R. 5 E. Cherry Valley, 12 miles west, is the nearest 
post office. 

Nos. 143 to 145 inclusive — Taken in 1892 from Miller mounds, Poinsett 
Co., Ark., S. 10, T. 10 N., R. 5 E. 

Nos. 146 to 151 inclusive — From various mounds in T. 8 and 9 N., R. 5 
E., Cross Co., Ark. 

Nos. 152 153 — Taken in 1892 from Miller mounds, in Poinsett Co. 
Ark., S. L>, T. 10 N., R. 5 E. 

Nos. 154 to 157 inclusive - Taken in 1891 from various mounds in Cross 
Co., Ark., T. 8 and 9 N., R. 5 E. 

No. 158 - From mound near Hatchie Coon, Poinsett Co., Ark., T. 12 
N., R. 6 E. 

Nos. 159 to 184 inclusive — From various mounds in Cross Co., Ark., 
T.8 and 9 N., R. 5 E. 

No. 185 — From mound near Hatchie Coon, Poinsett Co., Ark., T. 12 
N., R. 6 E. 

No. 186 — From Miller mounds, Poinsett Co., Ark., S. 10, T. 10 N., R. 5 E. 

Nos. 187 to 193 inclusive — From Fortune mounds, at Neely's ferry, on 
St. Francis river, Cross Co., Ark., T. 9 N., R. 5 E. Cherry Valley is the 
nearest post office. 

No. 194— From mound near Hatchie Coon, Poinsett Co., Ark., T. 12 
N., R. 6 E. 

Nos. 195 to 219 inclusive — From the Fortune mounds, Cross Co., Ark., 
T. 9 N., R. 5 E 

Nos. 220 to 223 inclusive — From Sandy Woods settlement, near Diehl- 
stadt post office, Scott Co., Mo., T. 27 N., R. 15 E. 
No. 224 — From Cross Co., Ark. 

No. 225 From mound near Diehlstadt, Scott Co., Mo., T. 27 N.,R. 15 E. 
Nos. 226, 227 — From Cross Co., Ark. 



PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN ST. FRANCIS VALLEY. 9 



No. 223— From mound near Diehlstadt, Scott Co., Mo., T. 27 N., R. 15 E. 
No. 229 - From Cross Co., Ark. 
Nos. 230, 231 — Same as No. 228. 

Nos. 232 to 236 inclusive — Taken in 1887 from Landers's mounds, in New 
Madrid Co.,Mo.,T. 25 N., R. 13 E. Six miles south of Little River station, 
on the St. L., I. M. & S. Ry. 

No. 237 Taken from Miller mounds, Poinsett Co., Ark., S. 10, T. 10 N., 
R. 5 E. 

Nos. 238, 239 — From Cross Co., Ark. 

No. 240 — From mound on the Madrid ridge, New Madrid Co., Mo., T.25 
N., R. 14 E. 
No. 241 — Same as Nos. 238, 239. 
No. 242 — Same as No. 240. 
Nos. 243, 244 — Same as Nos. 238, 239. 
No. 215 --Same. as No. 240. 
No. 246 — From Cross Co., Ark. 

Nos 247, 248 — From Miller mounds, in Poinsett Co., Ark., S. 10., T. 10 
N., R. 5 E. 

Nos. 249, 250 - From New Madrid Co., Mo., T. 25 N., R. 14 E. 
Nos. 251 to 254 inclusive — From mound one mile west of mouth of 
Tyronza river, in Cross Co., Ark. 



